Sparking up conversation about youth cannabis use

A new five-minute video designed to target youth, either using cannabis or considering using the drug, is turning heads.

It's the project of four 4th-year medical students at Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM) and they're hoping it'll make some students think twice about using the drug.

"We were kind of inspired by the numbers of youth that we saw using cannabis, and in such heavy volumes, in our clinic time. And then some literature we had seen on the high rates of cannabis use, particularly in northern Ontario," said student Kelsey Pitre, from NOSM's Sudbury campus.

The group of med students used it as their advocacy project and it's already won the 'Paediatric Resident Advocacy Health Education Grant' from Healthy Generations.

They're hoping to get it circulated among public health units in the region and across the province to shine a light on marijuana use.

"I think ... I suppose the best harm reduction strategy is abstinence, but we understand that people are still going to use," said Pitre.

"I think we'd be lying to ourselves if we expected youth and adolescents to not experiment with drugs or alcohol. As much as we'd like that to be the case, so often the harm reduction strategies would often be a more attractive component of the video for them," said Brittany Pennock, a student from the Thunder Bay campus.

The video uses a simple approach with cartoons and colour in a bid to appeal to a younger demographic.

The med students are hoping young people between the ages of 12 and 18 give it a good look.

The video looks at some of the side effects of the drug and best practices when planning to use it.

Among some of the tips, if you are going to use it, they suggest you consult your doctor first. They add doctors have to keep things confidential.

"If youth watch this, learn from it and perhaps adapt some of these harm reduction strategies going forward, and at least have it in the back of their mind about why doing they're doing this or how they're doing it," said Pennock.

"I think for me that would be a success around the messaging of this video."

According to the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction, northern Ontario has a high rate of cannabis use in youth, second to only those in the western region.

They plan to do more research around the messaging of the video as they see how well it's received. They're also hoping some public health units will assist in its distribution.

The group is hoping this will play a role in what it says is some of the misinformation that's currently circulating out there.